The invention concerns a felling bar of the type used in felling of trees, comprising an elongated shaft, one end of which is shaped as a handle, and the other end is turned into a toothed lever plate.
Felling bars are used in felling of trees to topple the trees after most of the tree trunk has been sawn through with a chainsaw. The lever plate is thus inserted in the cut as soon as there is space enough behind the chainsaw guide bar, and functions initially as a wedge to keep the tree from leaning backwards which would make the chainsaw stick in the cut. When the chainsaw has reached far enough, the cut can be opened by pressing the handle of the felling bar upwards or downwards, to force the tree to fall in the desired direction.
In trees with soft outer layers of wood, such as certain deciduous trees, and in especially thick trees, the carrying ability of the lever plate is insufficient, and one or more wedges with greater thickness are driven into the cut, and only the final toppling of the tree is done with the felling bar. To drive the wedges, a blunt-headed axe is traditionally used, which can also be used for limbing and other minor tasks.
Using an axe as a striking tool carries considerable risks for injury from the edge, and from axe heads falling off from the handle if the hole becomes deformed. It is also desirable to lower the weight of the set of tools carried by the forest worker.
The invention aims to solve the described problems by a new type of felling bar. The special feature of the new felling bar according to the invention is that it has been provided with a striking lug, whereby this tool becomes useful both as a felling bar and as a hammer for driving wedges.